


Whatever it takes

by hufflepuffmish



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Endgame, Character Death, Everyone Needs A Hug, First Kiss, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, I need a hug, M/M, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, Sorry Not Sorry, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Unrequited Love, Vormir, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 03:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21439705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepuffmish/pseuds/hufflepuffmish
Summary: “Wanna play rock, paper, scissors? Who wins gonna take the stone back home.““Tony you’re a genius and won every rock, paper, scissors you ever played and knowing you, you would lose on purpose, but it won’t be necessary anyway. I’m going to jump.”“The hell you will!”What if Steve and Tony would have gone to Vormir instead of Natasha and Clint?
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	Whatever it takes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [somalester](https://archiveofourown.org/users/somalester/gifts).

> So after you wrote me a Stevebucky story for my birthday I thought it would be only fair if you get a Stevetony one from me. I mean it's your fault that I ship it after all.  
This is just as your story more of a punishment than a birthday present, but I hope you like it anyway.  
Have fun I guess and happy birthday 💛
> 
> (It's not beta read yet. I hope there aren't too many mistakes in there :'D)

#### Whatever it takes

Nebula and Rhodey watched as the ship with Tony and Steve took off.  
“The coordinates are set. As long as they don’t fall out of the ship, it should be fine.”said Nebula, but Rhodey could hear a bit of worry in her voice.  
“They will be fine! Tony is a genius, you know?” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to reassure Nebula or himself. Probably both.  
The relationship between Tony and Cap was still complicated to say the least.  
Sure, they worked together for this time heist and Tony gave Steve the improved shield, but they never properly apologized or talked about what happened in Siberia.  
He knew Tony long enough to know that he forgave Steve, but he was still hurt and probably never forgave himself.  
Not that he had to. He did nothing wrong.  
He acted a bit impulsive, but who wouldn’t have?  
This whole situation was just a mess.  
He sighed. “They will be fine!” He said again, this time definitely to reassure himself.

Meanwhile, Tony and Steve were sitting side by side in silence.  
It wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable silence, but it was a bit awkward and made Tony nervous.  
He looked out of the window and into space. It was almost scary, but also very beautiful.  
It would be amazing if it wasn’t for the anxiety he felt bubbling beneath the surface of his skin.  
Part of him felt like he were back on the ship with the blue meanie.  
Like the last five years were just a dream and he was about to run out of oxygen.  
Like he would never see Pepper again.  
He felt the pain and guilt over loosing the kid stronger again and remembered the nightmares that kept him sleepless for weeks.  
The nightmares that came to reality five years ago.  
He began to shiver, his heart rate was spiking up, his hands were sweaty and he felt like throwing up.  
He tried to push the anxiety attack down. To not let the the panic take control.  
“We’re going to fix this. Everyone will be okay“ He repeated over and over again in his head trying to calm down.  
“Beautiful, isn’t it?“ Steve asked so suddenly that he nearly jumped.  
Slowly he turned to Steve who looked at him and not out of the window like he expected.  
“It sure is. Well, if you ignore the existential crisis that this eternal blackness tends to trigger, that is.“  
The Captain looked guilty, as if he just remembered that the other man was stuck on this very ship with little to eat for twenty two days without any hope of rescue.  
Steve always thought that he had a hard time after everything that happened, but Tony probably had it worse.  
Sure, he wasn’t viewed as a war criminal and needed to hide for two years like Steve, but he must have struggled with his already fragile mental health.  
He remembered the look on Tony’s face when he rammed the… his shield into Tony’s arc reactor and a knot of guilt and regret formed in Steve’s stomach.  
“I’m sorry“ he said quietly.  
“It’s not your fault that I’m back in the ship that I thought would be my coffin.” Tony tried to smirk.  
“No.” Steve explained, “I mean, I’m sorry for what happened in Siberia. I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m sorry that I abused your trust. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you! You deserved a better friend than I was. I tried so hard to be there for you and to treat you better than Howard or...”  
“Stop.” Tony interrupted Steve and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand while holding the other up to emphasize his exclaim.  
“Look, there is no need to apologize. I forgave you a long time ago.”  
“I still want to apologize, because I was wrong. I treated you wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t and won’t regret saving Bucky, but I regret everything that lead to this moment and everything that happened after.” Steve confessed.  
“I know that Barnes means a lot to you and I understand why you saved him. But why couldn’t you just tell me? Why?” The hurt in Tony’s eyes was nothing compared to the look he gave him this day, but it clearly still haunted him.  
Steve swallowed hard.  
If Tony was honest, he long forgave Rogers for everything. Even the lying... well, the not telling.  
It’s just that he trusted him. He trusted him even though it was the person Howard wouldn’t shut up about, even though another old friend of his father betrayed him. He still gave Steve a chance. He even became friends with Captain America.  
And then... it all shattered and it felt like Obadiah all over again.  
The lying, the telling him that it was for his own good. And then the destroying of the arc reactor.  
He knew that Steve didn’t intend to kill him (not like Obadiah), but he felt just as helpless as all those years ago when his mentor... his father figure ripped the device that kept him alive right out of his chest for profit.  
He felt his eyes staining.  
“Don’t start crying, Anthony! Boys don’t cry! Captain America never cried! Get it together!” He could hear his father’s harsh voice inside his head.  
Suddenly, a hand lied on this shoulder and he focused back on Steve’s face.  
“You meant... you mean a lot to me too, Tony!”  
Tony laughed bitterly. “I heard that a lot. But it never seems to be enough.”  
Steve frowned. “A lot?” He thought. Who else apart from maybe Howard?  
“I’m sorry that your father treated you badly. You didn’t deserve this.”  
“I know now that it wasn’t your fault that my dad rather would have had Captain America as his son than the arrogant little punk I was.”  
Steve wanted to say something. Something along the lines that Howard surely loved his son the way he was and that Tony was a brilliant genius. A hero.  
“It wasn’t your fault that he missed all my birthdays because a frozen Captain was more important to him than his own son. Then again, I should probably thank you for keeping him away from me and mom.”  
With every word Tony said Steve’s stomach felt tighter.  
He couldn’t have hit them, could he? He almost didn’t dare to ask, but he needed to know now.  
“Tony.” He said softly. “He didn’t hit you, did he?”  
“Never hard enough for it to hurt more than a week.” Tony shrugged.  
“THIS SON OF A BITCH.” Steve said through his teeth.  
His hands were curled into tight fists.  
He took a deep breath.  
“Fuck. I didn’t know... I never thought he…”  
Tony wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to hold his tears back and was about to turn away from Steve as he felt strong hands on his shoulder pulling him toward the Captain.  
Then his head was leaning against a warm (and very muscular) chest. Strong arms wrapped tightly around him and he felt safe.  
He started crying, no longer able to fight his tears.  
Tony was torn between the urge to pull back and the one to lean in closer.  
He gave in into the latter. It just felt so nice, warm and safe.  
He could feel his muscles relax and as he exhaled, he realized that he has been holding his breath all this time.  
He felt awkward with his arms just hanging down and he hesitantly put them on Cap’s back.  
And as if Steve just waited for this he began to rub Tony’s back and one of his hands found the way into Tony’s hair.  
He kept petting Tony’s hair for a while and Tony just listened to Cap’s breathing and focused on the feeling of the hand fondling his hair.  
After what seemed like an eternity, but probably was only about five minutes, Steve slowly pulled away and the hands on his shoulders were the only connection between the two.  
Tony tried to blink his tears away, but it probably wouldn’t help much anyway.  
He must be a total mess with red puffy eyes, he still tried to look as presentable as possible before he looked up and directly into Cap’s eyes.  
Tony instinctively wanted to look away, but the softness of the blue eyes made him hesitant.  
“I know you never had it easy Tony. And I am so sorry for everything that happened. I wished I could have been there for you more. I know you probably no longer trust me, but I really wanna be there for you. And I’m so happy for you and Pepper! Morgan has definitely the most amazing parents. You didn’t make Howard’s mistakes. You’re her hero, just as you are for me and the rest of the world!”  
Tony was at a loss for words. What do you say after Captain America, your childhood hero, tells you that you’re his hero?  
Apparently the answer was blinking away even more tears.  
And Steve seemed to understand without Tony saying anything.  
He let go of Tony’s shoulders and following some impulse, Tony grabbed Steve’s hand and pressed it two times.  
Gestures like that were always easier for him than actually saying something.  
Steve seemed surprised when he felt Tony’s hand in his, but he didn’t try to pull back.  
Instead, he squeezed it back.  
Tony couldn’t help but smile.  
“This will work, Tony. You’ll see your kids again.”  
Kids, like in plural. Like in Peter and Morgan.  
“It’s going to work.“ He agreed.  
They continued holding hands for the rest of the flight and Tony wondered if he should worry about how natural this felt.

Vormir was beautiful to look at. The red clouds that are covering a part of the planet just to pull out into space gave it a mysterious vibe. It would be aesthetically pleasing if it wasn’t for the little voice in the back of Tony’s mind that reminded him that it was probably really dangerous when an infinity stone was down there.  
When they landed, Tony checked the atmosphere again before opening the doors and taking the first step out of the ship, onto a new planet.  
“Hey Soldier, if someone told you back in 1945 that you would end up on another planet, would you’ve believe them?” Tony asked half teasing, half serious.  
“Honestly? I wouldn’t have believed them, but I also wouldn’t have been surprised either.” Cap smirked.  
And Tony couldn’t help but smile back.  
Okay, let’s find this magical piece of jewelry.  
“Where to head to?” Steve wondered.  
“Maybe to this creepy portal thing on the only mountain here.” Tony replied teasingly.  
“Lead the way then, smartass”  
They walked towards the mountain and as they arrived at the bottom of it, Tony tapped his chest two times and the iron man suit formed around him.  
Steve couldn’t help to be impressed by that.  
“I’ll check out what’s going on up there and come back” Tony’s metallic iron man voice was saying and Steve expected him to blast off, but surprisingly it didn’t happen.  
“What the fuck?” Tony said after he let his helmet disappear again.  
“What’s wrong?” Steve asked.  
„I can’t fly.“  
“You can’t fly? I don’t understand.“  
“I guess something about this place cuts off my blasters.” Tony seemed annoyed.  
“We have to do it the old fashioned way, then.” Steve walked to the small path that seemed to go up there.  
Tony sighed and followed him.

Thirty minutes later, they were still climbing up and Tony really wished his armor would just work normally.  
Steve didn’t seem to be bothered at all.  
“Freaking super soldier.” Tony mumbled under his breath.  
“Already tiered?” Cap asked teasingly.  
“You wish, old man.” Tony snapped back.  
He may was not as fit as he was during his superhero days, but he wasn’t out of shape either.  
And he definitely won’t show cap that this walk exhausted him.  
Luckily they were almost there and after one last turn they reached the top.  
They paused and Tony tried to get his fast breath under control.  
Suddenly they heard a voice and turned around.  
Tony armor covered him in mere seconds and Steve held his shield in front of them.  
They both expected an incoming attack.  
But nothing happened.  
A person covered completely in a black cloak was moving towards them.  
“Hey what’s your Patronus, Cap?” Tony joked, but didn’t lower his blaster.  
Steve was saved from answering by the mysterious figure who decided to lower his hood at that moment.  
The heroes gasped. But before either of them found the words to react the figure started speaking.  
“Welcome, Tony son of Maria and Steve son of Sarah.”  
“Hallo, Johann son of a bitch.” shot Steve back.  
Tony couldn’t suppress his laughter completely.  
Steve “Language” Roger swearing was something else and he likes to think that it was partly the fault of his good influence.  
It was pretty hot as well if he was honest.  
Everyone who wasn’t blind could attest that Captain America looked handsome and as the bisexual (former) playboy that he was he could only agree.  
Sometimes when Steve came into the kitchen shirtless after he hit the gym Tony needed a cold shower afterwards.  
Of course he never acted on that because  
He always loved Pepper and  
He had no idea if Steve liked men at all  
But sometimes he couldn’t help, but stare at Steve’s ass or flirt a little bit.  
Tony even made sure that the Captain America uniform displayed Steve’s ass perfectly, because he believed that how the first one fitted was an insult for Steve’s perfect body.  
But now wasn’t the time to fantasize about America’s ass.  
He was on an alien planet and red skull was monologuing about the soul stone.  
“... some say it has a certain wisdom.To ensure that whoever possesses it understands it’s power, the stone demands a sacrifice."  
This whole thing was really absurd, like the finale of a bad fantasy movie and Tony would laugh if it wasn’t that serious.  
“What kind of sacrifice” asked Steve. His voice was shaking slightly as if he already had a suspicion.  
"In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul for a soul.” answered red skull.  
It’s definitely a bad fantasy movie trope, Tony decided.  
“Why should we believe you, red skull?”  
That was a good question. “Why should they believe this dementor?”  
Tony breathed out, not even aware that he was holding his breath.  
“Captain Rogers, why should I lie to you?”  
“Because you’d love to see me suffer?”  
The red skull chuckled.  
“Still angry about what happened all these years ago.”  
“Of course he’s still angry. You froze him for 70 years and tried to kill millions!”  
“Actually he froze himself when he decided to land my plane in the ice. But let’s not dwell on the past. When I took the tesseract in my bare hands I got banned to this place to guard the soul stone. I tried to get it myself, but I couldn’t. If I was lying about the sacrifice, I already would have taken the stone for myself. I have no reason to lie.”  
Tony hated that it made so much sense.  
He felt Steve tensing up next to him. Probably considering to just hit his former arch enemy.  
Red Skull just floated back to the edge of the cliff.  
“For one of you the stone is down there, for the other just death. You’re decisions.”  
Steve felt Tony looking at him and slowly turned towards him.  
As he looked in Tony’s eyes he saw the same determination that he was feeling.  
“Is it possible that he made this shit up?” Asked Tony even though he was pretty certain that it wasn’t.  
“No i don’t think so. Remember that Nebula said that Thanos went here with his daughter and came back without her, but with the stone. He sacrificed her.”  
“I was hoping you came to another conclusion than me.” Tony went for a smirk.  
“I’m afraid not” Steve smiled back.  
Tony’s thoughts were racing. They had to get this stone. Otherwise everything would have been for nothing. The others, hell half of the universe counted on them.  
Steve must have thought the same, because after a minute of silence he said: “Whatever it takes, right?”  
“Whatever it takes” replied Tony.  
“Wanna play rock, paper, scissors? Who wins gonna take the stone back home.“  
“Tony you’re a genius and won every rock, paper, scissors you ever played and knowing you, you would lose on purpose, but it won’t be necessary anyway. I’m going to jump.”  
“The hell you will!”  
“I am the logical choice here. You have a family, a daughter who waits for you at home. I should have died 70 years ago.”  
“The world needs Captain America!”  
“But she doesn’t need Steve Rogers.” Steve replied while laying his shield down.  
“You are Captain America! We need you! I need you!” Tony all but screamed.  
Steve just smiled weakly and pulled the mask of it face.  
“Steve stop! Please stop!” Tony reached for Steve’s hand to stop him from taking off the gloves as well.  
He knew that Steve could easily shake him off, but was glad that he didn’t.  
“Tony i won’t let you play the sacrifice game again. You did this too many times and each times it feels worse than the one before. You have a family, a good life! I’m just the man out of time that can’t live without the war.”  
“Steve” the name sounded like a plea.  
“Tony. Let me do this for you. For your family!”  
Tony just gripped Steve’s arm even tighter.  
“I could easily just knock you out and jump, but i prefer not to. Don’t make this harder than it already is.” Steve tried to reason.  
Tony knows that Steve was right especially because his blasters weren’t working, but he be damned if he just let him do that!  
“Steve I’m just a broken old man. I don’t wanna leave my family behind, but you are worth ten of me.“  
“I’m not.“ Steve shrugged his head, “I know you wanna save everyone and probably don't know your own worth, but I assure you that you are the best hero earth has and she needs you. You are the visionary, I’m just a relict from world war two.“  
Tony sunk on his knees, started sobbing.  
“Please Steve I can’t lose you! I LOVE YOU, okay. I fucking love you. Don’t… just don’t“  
Steve kneed down next to him and looked him in the eye.  
“I’m sorry, but I have to do it. I love you too! I did for a long time and maybe in another life it would all worked out differently. But in this one you have a family you love and it was’t meant to be. And that's okay. Just continue the good work for me. The shield is for Sam. Bucky knows everything about this and will take care of the rest.“  
Tony just silently sobbed during Cap’s monologue.  
“No, please“ Tony tried again.  
„Goodbye Tony Stark, earth’s best defender.“ Steve said while getting up.  
He pressed his lips quickly against Tonys.  
The kiss wasn't lasting long, just a light touche of lips.  
And when Steve pulled back Tony chased the bittersweet sensation for as long as possible.

Then Tony blinked and as he opened his eyes again he could see Steve jumping over the edge.


End file.
